About the only thing that you hear from the Democrats these days is: "It's all Bush's fault." War, environment, poverty, the economy, whatever -- George did it.
If they beat up on George Bush long enough, they hope that clueless voters will fail to see through the smoke-and-mirrors rouge that camouflages rhetoric that is devoid of facts and creative ideas. Such is the case of Paul Angelone's letter about the "environmental terrorism" that the Bush administration has caused.
The writer accuses the Bush administration of "undermining landmark environmental laws," but fails to cite which ones. He says that Bush's FY 2002 budget "cuts money from important environmental programs," but doesn't say how much.
He vaguely cites the author of "Perks" as his source, but never gives the author's first name, what he wrote or where anyone else can find this alleged information. I hope this student didn't learn his research methodology from any Ball State professors.
FACT: The president's FY 2003 budget request asks Congress for $4.5 billion for global climate change-related activities -- a $653 million or 17 percent increase over FY 2002. That is the highest percentage increase of any nation.
This increase includes $1.8 billion for climate change science, $1.3 billion for climate technologies, and $555 million for first year funding for a five-year, $4.6 billion commitment to tax credits for renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies. This budget request also includes a 29 percent, $279 million increase for international environmental-related activities.
This FY 2003 budget supports significant funding for science and technology research, including $155 million for the Agency for International Development for climate technology assistance to developing countries; $50 million for tropical forest conservation, including $40 million under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act to help countries redirect debt payments toward protecting tropical forests; and a significant share of the overall funding required to meet the president's commitment of $25 million for climate observation systems in developing countries.
President Bush has set a national goal of reducing greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent over the next 10 years. This goal is equivalent to taking 70 million cars off the road and equivalent to the average progress that nations participating in the Kyoto Protocol must achieve.
Cars and trucks account for about one-third of U.S. carbon emissions. "FreedomCAR" is a public-private partnership seeks to develop a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. This groundbreaking research could result in less expensive and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, which will emit no harmful pollutants or greenhouse gases.
The source for all of this information is the U.S. State Department: http://usinfo.state.gov.
President Bush's Global Climate Change strategy represents a market-based, common sense approach to finding answers and solutions. Rather than pitting economic growth against the environment and risking the loss of millions of jobs -- which the Kyoto Protocol does -- this strategy promises real progress by harnessing the power of applied science and cutting-edge, digital technology.
You can be an environmentalist and a Republican. The first and greatest environmentalist Republican president was Theodore Roosevelt, and I believe that George Bush is continuing in that tradition. I'm all for a honest and robust debate on public policy issues, but let's start with the facts and go from there.
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